Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-06-10

endless tossing OF the sea which canno
rest. How will you find their graves fol
this national decoration: Nothing hut the
archangel's trumpet shall reach their lowlA
bed. A few of them have been gathered
into naval cemeteries of the land and ycr
will garland the sod that covers them, but
who will put flowers on the fallen crew OF
4 the exploded Westfield and Shawsheen,
and the sunken Southtield and the Win
field Scott? Bullets threatening in front,
| bombs threatening from above, torpedoes
( threatening from beneath and the ocean
with its reputation of 5000 years for ship
/ wreck lying all around, am I not right i'll
/ saying it required a special courage Tor the
navy?
| 1t looks picturesque and beautiful to see
a war vessel going out through the Mar
rows, sailors i'll new rig singing:
| a life on the ocean wave,
nome on tue rolling deep!
the colors gracefully dipping to passing
the guns at Quarantine firing parting
salute. But the poetry is all gone out of
that ship as it comes out of that engage
ment, its decks red with human blood,
wheelhouse gone, the cabins a pile of
shattered mirrors and destroyed furniture,
steering wheel broken. smokestack crushed,
a hundred-p pound Whitworth rifle shot
having left it's mark from port to star
board, the shrouds rent away, ladders
splintered, and decks plowed up, and
smoke blaclsened and scalded corpses lying
among those who are gasping their last
gasp far away from home and kindred,
whom they love as much as we love wife
and parents and children. Not waiting I'M
I'll You are dead to put upon your graves a
wreath of recognition, this hour we put on
Your living brow the garland of nations
praise.
O. men of the Western Gulf squadron,
OF the Eastern Gulf squadron, of the
South Atlantic squadron, of the North At
lantic squadron, of the Mississippi squad
ron, of the Pacific squadron. of the West
India squadron, and of the Potomac flo
tila, hear our thanks. Take the benedic-
ton OF our churches. Accept the hospi-
talities Of the nation. II we had our way
we would get You not only pension, but a
home and princely wardrobe, and an
eqnipaage and a banquet while you live,
and after your departure catafalque and
a mausoleum of sculptured marble, with a
model of the ship i'll which you won the
day. 1t is considered gallant thing when
in a naval fight the flagship with its blue
ensign goes ahead up a river or into bay,
its admiral standing in the shrouds watch
ing and giving orders. But | have to tell
You, O veterans of the American navy!
if you are as loyal to Christ as you were to
the Government there is flagship sailing
ahead of YOU of which Christ is the adj
miral, and he watches from the shrouds,
and the heavens are the blue ensign, and
he leads YOU towards the harbor, and all
the broadsides of earth and he'll cannot
damage you, and we, whose garments We're
once red with your own blood, shall have a
robe washed and made white in the blood
of the Lamb. Then strike eight bells!
High noon i'll heaven!
with such anticipation, o veterans of
the American navy! l charge you bear up
under the aches and Weaknesses that You
still carry from the war times. You are not
as stalwart rs you would have been but for
that nervous strain and for that terrific ex-
posure. Let every ache and pain, instead
OF depressing, remind you of Your fidelity.
The sinking of the Weehawken off Morris
Island, Dec. 6, 1868, was a mystery. She
was not under fire. The sea was not rough.
But Admiral Dahl eren from the deck of the
flag steamer Philadelphia saw hergradually
sinking, and finally she struck the ground,
but the flag still foated above the wave in
the sight of the shipping. 1t was after
wards found that she sank from weakness
through injuries in previous service. Her
plate had been knocked loose in previous
times. So you have, i'll nerve and muscle
and bone and dimmed eyesight and difficult
hearing and shortness of breath, many in
tlmations that you are gradually going
down. 1t is the service of twenty three
years ago that is telling on you. BE of
good cheer. We owe YOU just as much as
though your life blood had gurgled through
expedition or as though you had gone down
with the Melville off Hatteras. Only keep
your flag flying as did Weehawken.
Good cheer, my boys! The memory of
man is poor, and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who fought
for it is an untruth 1t does forget. Wit
ness how the veteran sometimes had to turn
the hand organs on the street to get their
families a living. Witness how ruthlessly
some of them have been turned out Of
office that some bloat Of politician might
take their place. Witness the fact that
there is not man or woman now under 80
years of age who has any full appreciation
OF the four years martyrdom of 1861 to 1868
inclusive. But While men may forget, God
never forgets. lie remembers the SWIM
ming hammock. He remembers the fore
castle He remembers the frozen ropes of
that January tempest. He remembers the
amputation without sufficient ether He
remembers the horrors of that deafening
night when forts from both sides belched
on you their fury and the heavens glowed
with the ascending and descending missiles
of death, and your ship quaked under the
recoil of the 100 FOUNDER, while all the
gunners, according to command, stood on
tiptoe, with mouth wide open, lest the con-
cussion shatter hearing or brain. He re-
members it all better than you remember
it, and in some shape reward will be given.
God is the best of all paymasters, and for
those who do their whole duty to Him and
the world the pension awarded is an ever
lasting heaven.
Sometimes off the coast of England the
royal family have inspected the British
navy, Unanswered before them for that
purpose. In the Baltic sea the Gear and
Czarina have reviewed the Russian navy.
To bring before the American people the
debt they owe to the navy I go out with
you on the Atlantic Ocean, where there is
plenty of room, and in imagination review
the war shipping of our three great conflicts,
1776, 1872, and 1875. Swing into line, all
We frigates. ironclads, tire-rafts, gunboats,
and men-of-war! There they come, all
sail set and all furnaces in full blast,
sheayes of crystal tossing from their cut
ting prows. That is the Delaware, an old
revolutionary craft, commanded by Com
modore Decatur. Wonder goes the Con-
Stitrtion Commodore Hnl1 cOmmon1ino